During a lovers' quarrel Dandy Arthur kills his ex-girlfriend. Unfortunately, a button torn from her coats lands in his pocket during the struggle. His wife finds the button and Dandy sets out to kill her as well. Eventually, however, Dandy gives himself away by talking too much and is arrested by the police.

Mrs. Logan calls Sheriff Ben Wister when she begins to believe that her neighbor Harry Jarvis killed his wife and buried her in his back yard. She notes that Harry has been acting strangely. He has been digging in the yard all night and has been drinkinf beer all day. She also notes that Mrs. Jarvis's annoying little dog has also gone missing. When the police interview him, Harry claims that his wife left him for another man. He also claims that his wife left her dog with him and that it died after an illness. The sheriff is unconvinced by Harry's explanation and gets a search warrant to dig up his back yard. When the police start digging they find a dead dog and believe Harry's story. Later, Harry visits Mrs. Logan who is in fact his secret lover. Harry did kill his wife and he and Mrs. Logan bury Mrs. Jarvis's body where the dog was once buried. They think that the police would never bother to check the dog's grave again. All goes according to plan until Sheriff Wister returns and tells them that they must dig up the dog's body since its against the law to bury dead pets in the back yard.